(Refresh the September 26 story to fix broken links)
(Reuters) – U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:) is taking a wide range of steps to prepare for possible strikes next week at U.S. ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, the company’s CEO said on Thursday.
Existing contingency plans include pre-shipping some products to get holiday items in early and preparing for the use of different ports, Costco’s CEO Ron Vachris said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
Companies that rely on maritime shipping are increasingly concerned that the 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association will strike on October 1 and close 36 ports that handle more than half of America’s ocean trade in products such as bananas, meat, pharmaceuticals and recipe, car parts and building materials and clothing.
If that happens, delays and costs could quickly pile up, endangering the U.S. economy in the weeks leading up to the presidential election, putting pressure on already taxed global shipping networks and sending consumers higher prices over time are imposed.
“We cleared the ports, we did the shipping in advance. We did several things that we could do to get holiday goods in before this time frame, and we looked at alternative plans that we could execute by moving goods to other countries .” ports and, if necessary, come throughout the country,” Vachris said.
Asked about bringing goods in early, he said: “We’ve done a little bit of everything you talked about,” adding: “It could be disruptive, but how impactful that is I can’t tell you… until We know what could happen out there.”
A prolonged strike could lead to shortages of well-known products such as bananas, coffee and cocoa, which could eventually translate into higher food prices.
It could also lead to lost export sales of key agricultural products, including beef, pork, chicken and eggs.
